Monday, January 5, 2015

1-2-3 Author Q&A with Author Charmaine Gordon

Today,
author Charmaine Gordon is joining us. She's taking part in my first 1-2-3 Author Q&A of 2015! I’ve
known Charmaine for a few years now through our local writing chapter and she’s
proven that love can happen at any time, and at any age.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Writing

Do you agree with the
adage “Write what you know”?

When I began writing, I didn’t have a clue
about anything but the story in my head. Format?Never heard of it. Query letter-a total mystery. All I knew
were scripts so when I wrote, much to my surprise, bits and pieces of me showed
up on the page. Should I leave it in was the daily question. But
I did so definitely, I write what I know and research to add to the mix.

The Writer

The best thing about being a writer?

The
best thing about being a writer is the fictional life I create. It’s a mystery where they come from as I fly by the seat of my
pants unlike the scripts I’d memorized over the years. How I treasured
every word, followed directions to be rewarded by applause and strangers
hugging me in the streets of NYC and the fun of dancing and singing with the
boyish Harrison Ford during a break of Working Girl. Never star struck because
they were people just like me who had worked hard on their craft and succeeded.
I began in my mid years and became a small fish in the big pond.

The Book

What was the spark that ignited the idea for the River’s Edge series?

The River’s Edge Series began quite by
chance. I thought about me, a virgin, at college and pictured another girl,
named her Grace Meredith, placed her in the year 1960 where she’d never been kissed. She Didn’t
Say No is the title. It cracks me up when I think about it and later her song
becomes, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, Yesterday’s gone, Yeah
yesterday’s gone.” I believe in that.

Bonus Question

Help Wanted, is part of your River’s
Edge series.River’s Edge is a small
town with a big heart, is this modeled after your experience living in a small
town?

I’m a native of Chicago so no small time girl here but Air Force life was like small town
for the years we were part of the Strategic Air Command and Rockland County has
a small town feeling to it.

Blurb:

From She Didn’t Say No, Book 1 in the
series.

Grace didn’t say no to the Big Man On Campus, Scott Dwyer. And then
her life changed… Years later, a too-close encounter of an unpleasant kind with
a skunk and Scott’s German Shepherd reunites the
former lovers. What happens in between are their stories of beginnings and
endings and love lost, then found.

Excerpt:

“After
burgers, fries, and milkshakes he followed my directions to my apartment.
Looking up at the nice building, he smiled. “So you live here. I’ve passed this
place like a zillion times never thinking the girl of my dreams might be right
upstairs.”

“Girl of your dreams?” I smacked his
shoulder. “You probably say that to all the girls.”

“No,
Grace. I mean it. I’ve admired you for months at the library and here we are.”

Is this where I say
come up or what?And then I heard myself asking if he’d like to come up
and we were inside and kissing in my quiet apartment where no one ever came. Ever until now. I always wondered what happens when two
young people are alone, hormones raging. Hearing about it and reading books is
not the same. I wore a spring sweater set, pleated skirt, underwear, socks and
sneakers. Nothing sexy except my feelings and wanting him.
Scott had experience on his side. Was I expected to be
a casual lay? I didn’t know and didn’t care.

First we sat on the couch and necked. That led to
touching and stroking each other and then , oh so
politely, he asked if I minded if he did this and that and soon we were naked
on my maiden double bed with pink flowered sheets and a matching spread.

“Grace,
you’re so beautiful.” He fondled my breasts as if they were treasures and
tasted one nipple and then the other. And sucked like
a baby searching for milk. My hands grabbed his head, ran my fingers through
his thick curly hair and held him close never wanting him leave.

“I
have a diaphragm and cream but I never used it.” It occurred to me this was a
funny conversation in the heat of nakedness.

“Oh.
Well, this time leave it up to me. Next time practice until you get it right
because I have a feeling we’re gonna need a lot of
protection.” He groaned and I heard a rip of a packet and fumbling and soon he
played with the dark moist space between my thighs until I lifted my hips to
heaven. Slowly, he entered the virgin territory where only a tampon had been.
No comparison here as he continued to move in a little deeper
each time to break the barrier and we were one reaching for the stars.

So this is what all
the fuss is all about,
I thought. And I wanted more and right away. Like a
demon possessed, I coaxed his wilted member into an upright position after
about half an hour and we lost count by night’s end collapsing in each other’s arms.

Vowing
to love each other forever, finish school in a few years and begin a life
together, we became the hottest unlikely new couple on campus. The studious girl and the BMOC. School first the priority.
We made a promise not to interfere with our different plans. I’d be off to
Purdue and he hadn’t solidified his plans yet. Law schools offered scholarships
for the brightest students; pick one. He’d almost made up his mind since
graduation was in June, a couple of months away.”

River’s Edge
Trio, Volume 1

Three Stories

from the small town with a big heart!

by Charmaine Gordon

Now in Print and All Ebook Editions!

Three
stories in the Charmaine Gordon series River’s Edge, combined
in one volume. She Didn’t Say No, Book 1; Housebroken, Book 2;
and Help Wanted, Book 3. These Charmaine Gordon stories of love, passion,
and suspense set in River’s Edge, the small town with the big heart, are also
available as singles in all ebook editions.

She
Didn’t Say No

Grace didn’t say no to the Big Man On Campus, Scott Dwyer. And then
her life changed… Years later, a too-close encounter of an unpleasant kind with
a skunk and Scott’s German Shepherd reunites the
former lovers. What happens in between are their stories of beginnings and
endings and love lost, then found.

Housebroken

Sally and Steve Atwood must make a
big adjustment – a fair number of them, actually – when after thirty-five
years, three grown children, and a lifetime of memories, they are alone,
together, at last… And, then they found River’s Edge,
a small town with big heart, stories to tell that will warm your heart, make
you smile, and turn a dreary day into a day of hope for the Kindness of
Strangers.

Help
Wanted

Steve and Sally Atwood have made
some big adjustments when they moved to River’s Edge. Afraid he is losing Sally
to a more exciting world, Steve panics, but despite Sally’s lecherous new boss,
together they rediscover all the love of their thirty-five years together and
all the… excitement… that brings to their lives.

I
kissed my acting career goodbye, leaving on a high note with the lead in an Off
Broadway play, “The Fourth Commandment” by Rich Knipe.“It was great fun and time to move on since
my voice was gone, kaput, bye, bye,” Before that, I had a full schedule working
on movies like “Working Girl”, “Road to Wellsville” and having the pleasure of
Anthony Hopkins’ company at lunch.I
worked with Mike Nichols in “Regarding Henry” and sang outside with Harrison
Ford during “Working Girl”, cried with Gene Wilder over loss on another set, and
sang ‘It Had to be You’ with the whole cast of“When Harry Met Sally”.There
were lots of fond memories; “Especially my first job as a stand-in leg model
for Geraldine Ferraro in a Diet Pepsi commercial with Secret Service men
guarding Ms. Ferraro and her daughters.Eleven years on One Life to Live, a few years on All My Children,
Another World kept my calendar full.”

1 comment:

Hi Tara, I just reread the post and my first thought was, "Did I write that?" I don't know about other writers but that's always my response. Then I think, Yeah, I did and what fun it is to be an author. Thank you for being so gracious and best wishes for a successful 2015.